


A Dearth of Feathers

by Loudest_Voice



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Cultural Differences, F/M, Food, Inverse Stereotypes, Loneliness, Not Revelations Compliant (cause I haven't played it), POV Female Character, Political Marriages, Post-Game(s), Shyness, Speculation, Unexpected Conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 06:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6108097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loudest_Voice/pseuds/Loudest_Voice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not fair that Hinoka's the one who has to leave for Nohr at the end of the war when Takumi is also marrying into the Nohrian royal family. Takumi's temper is a disaster and Camilla will probably run circles around him, but who thinks that she'll fair any better against King Xander?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dearth of Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> Eh . . . I'm halfway through the Nohr campaign. Takumi is being quite unreasonable.

Even dressed in bulky traditional Hoshidan garb and surrounded by hundreds of people who half-want want him dead, Xander manages to out-grace Hinoka at their wedding. Though Hinoka has never spared any daydreams for princes and wedding days, it still galls her. How ridiculous will she be in Nohr, where there's more metal and dust than skies?

"I promise," Xander intones, "to honor you and your family, to defend your honor and pride, and to slay any who would cross your path, be it god or man."

He says it in a deep baritone that momentarily cuts through Hinoka's bitterness. She's not made of stone after all, and Xander is very handsome, at least in a rough Nohrian way. Regardless, the goodwill melts as she rushes through her own vows--vows about obedience and, gods help her, _child bearing_ that are nowhere as inspiring as Xander's talk of dragons. She tries to find solace in the knowledge that one of her children will be crown prince or princess, but fails as terribly as a foal running from a fox. Not once has she envied Ryoma's burden.

Whatever misgivings Hoshido might feel about handing one of its princesses to Xander, the fearsome Nohrian scion, it's not enough to keep them from indulging in the crown's generosity. The people gulp down sake like it's the end of the world. By the time the sun kisses the horizon, Hoshidans are flushed with joy and alcohol, some going as far as mingling with the Nohrian troops scattered around the valley.

"If you like," says Xander, "you can visit your home before relocating to Castle Krakenburg."

Hinoka jumps, resenting the reminder that she doesn't know when, or even _if_ , she'll ever see home again. Then his words register. "But your people . . . they're expecting yo--th--me." She's no politician, but it doesn't take one to guess that it wouldn't look good if Nohr's new foreign queen doesn't bother to show up for the honeymoon.

"Nohrian's do not concern themselves with the private lives of the royal house," says Xander. "It will not trouble me overmuch if you delay your transition to our marriage . . . home."

Hinoka refuses to see into a verbal pause from _Xander_ of all people, who always speaks as though he's selected the best words out of millions of alternatives.

"Have you spoken of this to Ryoma?" she asks.

"I do not see how this concerns him," says Xander, bringing a bite of rice to his lips. Privately, Hinoka is impressed by how quickly he mastered chopsticks with those large, seemingly brute hands of his.

She would love nothing more than to snatch up his offer, now and every other time he might make it, to stay in Hoshido for as long as circumstances allow. But she knows better.

"No," she says instead, praying that she sounds as self-assured as he does. "That will not be necessary."

Ryoma would never approve. She might not have cared, except that she can hear his reprimands: _this is for Hoshido as much as for Nohr; how do you think this will affect Takumi and Princess Camilla? Will our people ever trust Nohrians if their princess can't bring herself to live with her Nohrian husband?_

Since Hinoka sees the validity in every reprimand, she would bow her head and set out for Nohr at once.

Xander finally falters during their customary marriage dance. With a private smile, Hinoka places a hand on his hip and orders him to watch her feet and follow her lead.

"I'm supposed to be leading," he protests even as he picks up on the lilting steps.

"You're not a king while we dance," says Hinoka.

"No, but I _am_ your husband?"

"What does that have to do with dancing?"

Xander pauses, glances around the courtyard, then shrugs. Hinoka follows his gaze and spots Camilla trying to coax Takumi to the dance floor. Her poor brother is as stilted as a rusted door hinge, then Camilla whispers something into his ears. It makes him huff, then stomp into the dance floor, where Camilla guides him through an impromptu number that matches the Hoshidan music, but must be Nohrian in origin.

"It has nothing to do with dancing, I suppose," says Xander.

The night grows older and the guests tip from merry activity to sleepy conversations between small groups. Despite the promises she made to herself once she agreed to the peace treaty that Ryoma proposed, marriage included, Hinoka's heart beats a tiny bit faster. Soon, she and Xander will have to retire to their marriage bed.

She takes solace in the knowledge that they've moved past such tacky practices as ritual inspections of the marriage bed. The consummation will be literally private, if not figuratively so, and she has no reason to believe that Xander will be monstrous. He was an honorable ally during the war with the Invisible Kingdom, and seems as committed to peace as Ryoma.

Nevertheless, Hinoka balks when Xander asks if she's amenable to retiring from the celebrations. But he's at least asking, giving her a chance to brace herself for the inevitable jeers that will follow their announcement to leave for their private quarters from the drunker soldiers at the fringes of the courtyard.

"Yes, I'm ready," she says. It's just awkwardness she faces, not a fearsome God-dragon hell-bent on cursing her kingdom into an eternity of strife.

Leaving the courtyard is not as great a circus as she imagined. Xander thanks Ryoma for the hospitality and says something generic about his intent to retire, and then they're off. Hinoka bets that most soldiers didn't even notice their departure. Her retainers - and Xander's - must be close by, but they do nothing to disrupt their thin shroud of privacy.

Hinoka extinguishes the candles when they get to her room, ignoring the notion that it's cowardly to hide from Xander's face. If anything, his broad, armored shoulders are more intimidating in the dark. There are weak points in that armor, of course, but she doesn't know precisely where they are and all she has on her person is a dagger.

"I . . ." Xander trails off. The silence is so thick despite the faint echo of music from the courtyard that Hinoka hears him swallow. "I can imagine that this might be a . . . trying time for you, so I will not demand that you lie with me."

Momentarily, Hinoka is guilty for thinking of knives and armor even though his concern strikes her as faintly condescending. "I'm not a virgin," she says, watching closely for his reaction.

"Oh."

"It's not expected in Hoshido for royalty to remain chaste," she explains, thinking of stories about Nohrian princes and princesses arguing among themselves for legitimacy and birth order. Since she'd seen no such squabbles among Xander and his siblings, she'd dismissed them as hearsay.

"It's not expected in Norh either," says Xander.

Hinoka nods. She would not have believed that Camilla will arrive at the marriage bed with Takumi untouched, though she suspects that Takumi will.

"But I have chosen to remain unattached," adds Xander. Perhaps because he says the words clearly and without a hint of shame, Hinoka doesn't grasp his meaning right away.

"Why?" she says, though she really means to ask _how_. Xander and Ryoma are similar, in status if not in looks or personality, and Ryoma has never hurt for interested women. Or even men.

"I didn't want to risk bringing children into the world while my father . . ." Xander's shoulders sag. "I had my hands full watching over my brothers and sisters as it was."

It's a painful admission for Hinoka to hear even before she remembers that one of those brothers is _Corrin_. What a nightmare it must have been for Xander to protect his siblings, even little, cheerful Elise, from a possessed madman wearing his father's face? Without any hope of ever suspecting what was truly wrong?

Hinoka steps closer to him, realizing that beneath the surface, Xander has way more reasons to be terrified of the future than she does. She touches his shoulder, going for camaraderie rather than seduction. "I can't promise that things will be easier from now own, but at least the monster in the shadows is gone."

"I know." For the first time, Xander sounds like Takumi, not Ryoma.

 _It's alright if you don't know yet._ Hinoka knows better than to say that. She steps closer, whatever trepidation she once felt about Xander standing a head taller than her vanished. "Then let's work together clean up his mess," she says, pulling him closer towards the bedding. "Come on, this next part of it should be quite fun if you take it slow."

**Author's Note:**

> As I play through Conquest, I get the feeling that Xander is quite isolated and probably scared deep down under the manly resolve.
> 
> [My blog](http://www.dynamicallyopposed.com/), where I recently made a whiny post about this game.


End file.
